Topcxt - Still Hate

TopCxt chronicles life on the streets, relates story of being shot 16times on new album ‘6IX’

NEW ORLEANS, LA – Ty Hill grew up in rough parts of New Orleans, so it should come as no surprise to his fans that his stage name was given to him by a heroin addict. What might be a surprise, though, is that he’s been shot 16 times and survived to tell the tale.

Born Ty Hill, the songwriter known as TopCxt (pronounced “Top Cat”) said the rough area of the central city’s neighborhood was overwhelming and a big influence on his life – not always in good ways. He’s been in-and-out of jail since he was a juvenile, mostly because of drugs, and throughout all of his struggles music has been a constant. He realized early on that music was a way to talk about his feelings through music. And as he has embraced his music career in recent years, he said it only felt right to embrace the nickname given to him when he was young because of the meaning behind it and how appropriate that was to the way he was approaching his life as a musician.

“I got the name TopCxt from a heroin addict who called me that because of the way I moved on the streets,” he said. “I always had my stuff together and always had other people doing things for me and I was always making moves. He called me Top Cat from the cartoon because by my early 20s I had already lived enough life to fit into all three of the Godfather movies. And now I’m using my music to tell my story – the story of TopCxt. Like Biggie and Tupac, I want to be known and I’m basically telling my story because there’s gonna be somebody else out therewho is going through something similar who can relate. Ultimately I want to be known as a writer and a performer with my own unique style.”

His newest release is an album called “6IX.” It’s a project that not only nods to his times on the streets, but also tells his life story in transparent and honest ways. For instance, he details the experiences that led to him being shot 16 times and left for dead. And throughout the project he uses numbers to highlight significant moments in his life. There are seven songs on this first album, for instance, because his daughter was born on the 7 th . It’s the first of a three-pronged project that he hopes to full release over the next year, and all three will showcase his unique sound and style that he calls “diverse.”